House Approves Bill Funding Anti-Abortion Centers

Florida taxpayers soon could fund anti-abortion pregnancy centers thanks to a bill that has passed the Republican-led House.

The vote on Wednesday was divided along party lines and highlighted concerns from Democrats, who call the proposal reckless because state funds would "irresponsibly provide ideological, and not medical, treatment to patients."

Rep. Jackie Toledo, a Republican sponsoring the bill, said the proposal simply gives women, whether pregnant or not, more resources if they are seeking services that improve their health. The state would not mandate these centers to have medical providers on site, where certain vaccines and medical screenings would be performed.

Service providers can include faith-based organizations, but no religious content is allowed to be promoted.

Related Content

At a conference in Brussels on Thursday, more than a dozen nations and private funders pledged a combined total of $190 million for international family planning charities that stand to lose their U.S. support as a result of President Trump's Jan. 23 executive action to block U.S. foreign aid funding of groups linked to abortion.

Norma McCorvey, whose legal challenge under the pseudonym "Jane Roe" led to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision that legalized abortion but who later became an outspoken opponent of the procedure, has died. She was 69.

In another in a string of rulings siding with abortion-rights advocates, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a 2015 law that would have required women to wait 24 hours before having abortions.